Picking crate



May 17, 1932. w. J. BRADDOCK ET AL 1,853,430

' PICKLING CRATE Filed March 2a, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORfi/uw/ari 6444M Mm y i w. J. BRADDOCK ET AL 7 1,858,430

IIIIIIIIIII TE Filed March 26, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 i l l I I I INNNNNN OR Patented May 17, 1932 UNITED STATES- PATENT o r'Fl-ca WILLIAMJ. IBRADDOGK AND CHARLES- w; HALLER, or WHEELING, wnszrvmemra,

assrenons ro 'WHEELINGBR'ONZE CASTING COMPANY, A CORPORATION or wnsr,

the patent to Charles VIRGINH.

PICKLING CRATE Application'filedMarch-26, 19302 Serial No. 439,032.

This invention relates to a picklingcrate for metallic sheets, andconstitutes an improvementv on the picklingcrate disclosed in I-IallerNo.

5 1,711,054, issued April. 30, 1929;

One object ofi the. invention is to provide a crate structure of thetype shown. in the above mentioned patent in which the use of screwthreads for maintaining the parts in rigid engagement is e'llmlnated.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide mutual attaching. meanswhich maintain the end and: partition grids of the crate.

iii-rigidly connected" spaced relation, and attach the same. tothe. baseand to the upright members serving: as lifting bars,. in such mannerthat the. attaching. means may be made to-compensate for. any tendencyof the parts to work loose duringcontinueduse of the crate.

Another. object of the invention is to provide means for attaching a.spreader to the upright members constituting lifting bars of'the'cra-tein such manner that it is firmly engaged thereto by means of aconnection which presents no aperturesrfor the entrance of picklingfluid, and which'is of sufficientv strengthand rigidity to withstandtheaction of a pickling. machine from which the crate may be suspended;

A further object. of the invention is to provide a pickling crate havingside and partition' grids of the general arrangement of. thosedisclosed-in the above mentioned patent', in which the cross sectionalcontour of the bars or legs constituting the. grid body issuch as topresent to a sheet lying against.

the grid a surface which is relatively extended, thus avoiding injury tothev sheet such. as might be caused-by a tendency, for the sheet to flexagainst a relatively narrow contact line such as is presented by abar ofcircular cross section.

-- In the accompanying drawings Fig. I is a side elevation of thepickling crate; Fig. II

member of the pickling crate; Fig. IV is a detail sectional view takenon the line VIII-VIII of Fig. VI; and F ig. IX is a sectional view takenon the line IX-JX of VII.

he base 1 of the pickling cratecomprises longitudinally extending barmembers 2 and transversely extending bar members 3., the. entirestructure beingi-ntegrally cast. As in the structure shown in the abovenoted patent to-Charles W. Haller, the outermost longitudinal members orsills of the base. are provided with apertures 4-for receiving the.lifting bars 51 Lifting bars 5 are Ushaped members, each having ahorizontally extend ing' intermediate portion 5a, andt verticallyextending legs 56.

It. should be understood that all themembers ofthe pickling crate aremadeof a cop-. per alloy which is-higlily resistant to corrosion by theacid of apickling bath. Thin edges andcorners of evensuch an alloy,

however, are attacked in time by the corrosive actionof a pickling bath.Screw threads and the like are therefore to be avoidedin.

the construction of a pickling crate.

While the lifting bar attachment, as shown.

in the above noted patent, does not require the use of screw threaded.members, such asbolts and nuts, for securing the lifting bars to thebase,,it is further desirable thatthe Upon the loosening of partscaused. bythe.

destruction of the screw threads, it is neces saryto make repairs to thecrate. We, therefore, provide novel means for attaching. the

partition grids of the sheet pickling crateinv mutually spaced relationon the base. 1.

Both the outer or side grids 6, and the intermediate, 'or partitiongrids 7,, of the crate correspond generally to the grids disclosed inthe above noted patent, inasmuch as they comprisemembers orl'egs whichiniii-3 tersect to provide a reticulated structure, supporting a sheetboth horizontally and vertically, While permitting free passage of thepickling fluid through the partition. In order that these grids may notpresent narrow contact lines to sheetslying thereagainst, and maypresent no points or corners which might nick or otherwise mar thesheets, we make the bars or legs 60 of the side grids, and the legs 7 aof the intermediate grids,1.0f generalr'elliptical contour in section.major axis of the ellipse lying in the plane of extent of the grid,presents a relatively extended surface area to the sheets, whileavoiding the sharp edges which would be present if bars or lugs ofrectangular cross sectional contour were employed. It will be noted thateach of the grids constitutes .a self contained and integrally caststructure, having no threaded connections or other joints into which thepickling bath may enter.

The grids 6 and 7 are mounted on the base by means of longitudinallyextending rods 8, Whichpassthrough aligned apertures 9 in brackets 10 ofthe side grids 6 and brackets 11 of the intermediate grids 7. The upperrods 8 also pass through matching apertures in the vertically extendinglegs 5?) of the lifting bars 5. Lower rods '12 pass through apertures 13in lugs 14 at the lower portion of the grids 6 and 7, and pass throughmatching apertures in the side bars or sills 2 of the base 1.Surrounding each of the rods 8 and 12 are a plurality of rela tivelyshort spacing sleeves 15, which lie between the grids, and serve tomaintain them in properly spaced position, to form a plurallty of sheetreceiving compartments in the crate.

Each of the rods 8 is terminally so formed that it may not be retractedthrough the lifting bars 5?) when it has beenpassed through theapertures therein. As shown, the terminal deformation to preventretraction is effected by peening over the extending end of the rod 8 toform a clinching portion 16.

This method of attachment in itself does not, however, serve toinitially tighten the connection between the outermost grids 6 and thelifting bars, nor between the grids 6 and 7 and their spacing sleeves15'. It also does not in itself provide means for tightening during useof the crate, if these parts should bars, the connection may betightened both between the outer grid 6 and the lifting bars, andbetween all of the grids and their spacing sleeves, by introducing awedge or wedges. into each of the sockets 17 and bearing against The. r

the adjacent spacing sleeve. The wedging means may either be arelatively wide ledge forked to straddle the rod 8, or may be two narrowwedges inserted one on each side of the rod 8.

Similarly the wedgeor wedges may be introduced horizontally instead ofvertically as shown, if the flanges 170., which form the socket'17 bearranged horizontally instead of vertically. i J

It will be readily understood thattherelatively massive structure of thewedgesis not attacked to a material extent by the relatively slow actionof the pickling bath on the copper'alloy ofwhich they are formed. Alsothe wedges may be driven in further if the the grid structure becomeslo'osenedby slight corrosion at the ends of the spacing sleeves, and thejarring incident to the useof the sheet pickling crate with a picklingmachine.

The arrangement in connection with the lower rods 12, which attach thegrids 6 and 7 to the'bas'e 1, is generally similar; Both ends of therods 12 projecting through apertures in the side bars or sills 20f thebase, are also deformed to provide clinching portions 18 lying againstthe outer face of the sills 2. In this connection, however, the sillsare provided with vertical slots 19 intersect ing the notches 20in'which the rods 12 lie. If then a forked Wedge V, or two narrow wedges,be inserted to act onboth sides of the rod 12 it serves totighten theclinched connection between the grid and the sills 2 ofth'e base.

Adjacent the upper ends of the lifting bars aspreader 21 is desirablyattached to provide a. reinforcing structure for connection of the crateas a whole to a pickling ma-' chine. The connection betw'een'thespreader and the lifting barsis also rigid -andof suchform' that it maynot be readily attacked by the pickling bath. At each corner of thespreader'is a seating notch 22ffor receiving a lifting bar leg, and lugs23 turned toward'each other'to provide an opening for the seat of awidth less than'that of the lift ingbar leg. Extending downwardly fromthe body of the spreader is a teat 24 disposed adjacent the notch 22,and having a face against which the leg of the lifting bar may lie. I

hIn attachingthe spreader to the lifting members,the lifting bar legs 56pass through each of the seat apertures, and the lugs are then bentoverabove the regions in which the spreader and the lifting bars are incontact. If desired, the lugs 23 may be peened over to "clinch thelifting bar legs. I a

In order to provide a rigid connection and one'w'hich is impervious toliquids, a retaining block 25 is then cast around the region of contactof each of the lifting bars with the spreader.. This may be donebycastinga copper alloy into a suitable mold positioned in the region ofthe jointj When so cast, the

retaining block shrinks to bind the lifting bar leg and the spreaderfirmly together, the teat 24 assisting to anchor the block 25 inposition.

Vhat we claim is:

1. In a sheet pickling crate the combination of a base, a lifting barextending upwardly from the base, a grid disposed adjacent the liftingbar, clinching means arranged to engage the grid to the lifting bar andto the base, and wedging means arranged to tighten the clinchedengagement of the grid.

2. In a sheet pickling crate the combination of a base, a lifting barextending upwardly from the base, a grid disposed adj acent the liftingbar, a rod passing through matching openings in the grid and lifting barand terminally shaped to prevent retraction thereof, a spacing sleevesurrounding said rod, and wedging means arranged to act on said grid formaintaining said grid lifting bar and spacing sleeve in firm mutualengagement.

3. In a sheet pickling crate the combination of a base, a grid extendingupwardly from the base, a rod passing through matching apertures in thegrid and in the base and terminally formed to prevent retractionthereof, a. spacing sleeve surrounding said rod, and wedging meansarranged to act on said grid for maintaining said grid base and spacingsleeve in firm mutual engagement.

4. In a sheet pickling crate the combination of a base, spaced uprightmembers attached to the base, a pair of upwardly extending spaced gridsdisposed adjacent said upright members, spacing means interposed betweensaid grids, clinching means arranged to engage the grids to theuprights, and wedging means arranged to act on said grids to maintainthe grids, uprights and spacing means in firm mutual engagement.

5. In a sheet pickling crate the combination of a base, spaced uprightmembers attached to the base, a pair of upwardly extending spaced gridsdisposed adjacent said upright members, spacing means interposed betweensaid grids, clinching means arranged to engage the grids to the uprightsand to the base, and wedging means arranged to act on said grids tomaintain the grids, uprights and spacing means in firm mutual engagementand to maintain the grids, base and spacing means in firm mutualengagement.

6. In a pickling crate the combination of a base, a plurality ofmutually spaced grids extending upwardly from the base, spaced uprightmembers attached to said base, a rod passing through said grids and saiduprights and terminally formed to prevent retraction thereof, a rodpassing through the grids and an aperture in the base and terminallyformed to prevent retraction thereof, spacing members interposed betweenthe grids and carried by said rods, and wedging means associated with atleast one grid to maintain the members in firm mutual engagement.

.7. In a sheet pickling crate the combination of a base, upright memberssecured to said base, a spreader arranged to lie horizontally betweensaid upright members and having therein seats for receiving said uprightmembers, and retaining blocks cast and shrunk to the spreader andupright members in the regions of their mutual contact providing ajointless casing wholly covering the regions of mutual contact betweenthe spreader and the uprights.

8. In a sheet pickling crate the combination of a base, upright memberssecured to said base, a spreader arranged to lie horizontally betweensaid upright members and having therein seats for receiving said uprightmembers, teats extending from the body of said spreader adjacent saidseats, and retaining blocks cast and shrunk to the spreader uprightmembers and teats in the regions of mutual contact of the uprightmembers and the spreader providing a jointless casing Wholly coveringthe regions of mutual contact between the spreader and the uprights.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

IVILLIAM J. BRADDO'CK. CHARLES W. HALLER.

